Cervical spine disease in surgeons performing arthroscopy or laparoscopy.

Minimal research exists regarding cervical spine disorders in surgeons who perform endoscopy. A confidential on-line survey regarding neck pain (NP), spine disease (SD), and radiculopathy/myelopathy (R/M) was sent to 722 surgeons from a managed, group-based health care system. 415 responded. 361 had endoscopy experience, of whom 24.4% had NP, 20.8% SD, and 3.9% R/M. Most respondents were less than 50 years of age (62.3%), and male (65.7%). Significant risk factors for NP included older age and female, whereas OB/Gyn specialty, increased age and job stress were for SD. After adjusting for age and gender, significant risk factors for NP and SD included greater surgeon experience. After also adjusting for job stress, significant risk factors for SD included increased surgeon experience and higher frequency of endoscopies. No association was found between use of digital OR. Endoscopy appears to place surgeons at higher risk of cervical disease. Level of Evidence: Level 3.

Understanding the Capacity for Exercise in Post-Bariatric Patients.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to conduct a pilot randomized trial testing an exercise program specifically adapted for post-bariatric patients. METHODS: A total of 51 post-bariatric patients, 6-24 months post-surgery, were randomly assigned to usual care control (n = 25) or the exercise intervention (n = 26). The intervention included twice weekly 60-min group exercise classes with functional strength, flexibility, and aerobic activities; at least 3 days per week of self-directed exercise; daily pedometer; recording of steps and activities; and weekly telephone counseling. There was also a 6-month maintenance period. RESULTS: Patients were 49 ± 12 years old, 84 % female, 59 % non-Hispanic white, with a BMI of 32.9 ± 5.7 kg/m2 and percent excess BMI loss since surgery of 56 ± 35 %. Patients were 14 ± 5 months post-surgery. A total of 44 patients (86 %) completed both phases of the program and all assessments. The following measures improved significantly for intervention participants with no significant change in control participants: yards walked in 6 min, seconds for 8-foot up-and-go, number of arm curls, and distance in inches for chair sit-and-reach. Intervention changes remained after 6 months of maintenance. CONCLUSIONS: When compared to patients in usual care, a specially adapted exercise program for post-bariatric patients resulted in significant improvements in objectively monitored health outcomes. This program was delivered in a clinical setting and could be implemented in a variety of settings to improve health outcomes for post-bariatric patients.

Hypertension and Asthma: A Comorbid Relationship.

BACKGROUND: An increased prevalence of hypertension has been described in adult asthmatic patients. However, there is no information regarding the interaction of hypertension as a comorbidity with asthma severity. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate whether a concomitant diagnosis of hypertension had any impact on markers of asthma severity in adult asthmatic patients. METHODS: A total of 117,922 asthmatic subjects 18 years or older were identified in the Kaiser Permanente database. Case-control studies were conducted with cases defined by short-acting ß-agonist canister dispensing greater than 6 (SABA > 6), history of emergency department visits or hospitalizations (EDHO), and corticosteroid dispensings (CCS), respectively. Controls were matched by age and sex. Univariate and multivariate conditional logistic regression was applied to estimate the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for SABA > 6, EDHO, and CCS associated with the diagnosis of hypertension. RESULTS: Hypertension was associated with an increased odds of SABA > 6 (OR 1.19, CI 1.13-1.26, n = 15,855 cases and 76,060 controls), EDHO (OR 1.11, CI 1.03-1.19, n = 9,307 cases and 46,535 controls), and CCS (OR 1.15, CI 1.10-1.19, n = 53,690 cases and 53,690 controls) after adjusting for potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS: Asthmatic subjects with comorbid hypertension display evidence of enhanced of asthma morbidity.

Impact of statin use on survival in patients undergoing resection for early-stage pancreatic cancer.

OBJECTIVES: It has been suggested that statins exert potential anti-tumor effects. The relationship between statin use and outcomes in pancreatic cancer is controversial. We hypothesized that statin use at baseline would impact survival among patients with early-stage pancreatic cancer and that the effect might vary by individual statin agent. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study on data from an integrated healthcare system. We included patients with pancreatic cancer stage I-IIb who underwent resection for curative intent between January 2005 and January 2011. Baseline statin use was characterized as any prior use as well as active use of either simvastatin or lovastatin. Intensity of exposure was calculated as average daily dose prior to surgery. Overall and disease-free survival was assessed from surgery until the end of study (April 2014). We used the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards regression to evaluate the impact of baseline statin use on survival, adjusting for age, sex, Charlson comorbidity score, resection margin, disease stage, and receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy. RESULTS: Among 226 patients, 71 (31.4%) had prior simvastatin use and 27 (11.9%) had prior lovastatin use at baseline. Prior simvastatin but not lovastatin use was associated with improved survival (median 28.5 months (95% confidence limit (CL) 20.8, 38.4) for simvastatin vs. 12.9 months (9.6, 15.5) for lovastatin vs. 16.5 months (14.1, 18.9) for non-statin users; log-rank P=0.0035). In Cox regression, active simvastatin use was independently associated with reduced risk for mortality (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 0.56 (95% CL 0.38, 0.83), P=0.004) and risk for recurrence (adjusted HR 0.61 (0.41, 0.89), P=0.01). Survival improved significantly among patients who received moderate-high-intensity (median 42.1 months (24.0,52.7)) doses compared with those who received low-intensity doses of simvastatin (median 14.1 months (8.6, 23.8), log-rank P=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: The effects of statins varied by agent and dose. Active use of moderate-high-dose simvastatin at baseline was associated with improved overall and disease-free survival among patients undergoing resection for pancreatic cancer.

Associations between physical activity and cardiometabolic risk factors assessed in a Southern California health care system, 2010-2012.

INTRODUCTION: Risk factors associated with many chronic diseases can be improved through regular physical activity. This study investigated whether cross-sectional associations between physical activity, assessed by the Exercise Vital Sign (EVS), and cardiometabolic risk factors can be detected in clinical settings. METHODS: We used electronic records from Kaiser Permanente Southern California members (N = 622,897) to examine the association of EVS category with blood pressure, fasting glucose, random glucose, and glycosylated hemoglobin. Adults aged 18 years or older with at least 3 EVS measures between April 2010 and December 2012, without comorbid conditions, and not taking antihypertension or glucose-lowering medications were included. We compared consistently inactive (EVS = 0 min/wk for every measure) with consistently active (EVS ≥150 min/wk) and irregularly active (EVS 1-149 min/wk or not meeting the consistently active or inactive criteria) patients. Separate linear regression analyses were conducted controlling for age, sex, race/ethnicity, body mass index, and smoking status. RESULTS: Consistently active women had lower systolic (-4.60 mm Hg; 95% confidence interval [CI], -4.70 to -4.44) and diastolic (-3.28 mm Hg; 95% CI, -3.40 to -3.17) blood pressure than inactive women. Active men had lower diastolic blood pressure than inactive men. Consistently active patients (women, -5.27 mg/dL [95% CI, -5.56 to -4.97]; men, -1.45 mg/dL [95% CI, -1.75 to -1.16] and irregularly active patients (women, -4.57 mg/dL [95% CI, -4.80 to -4.34]; men, -0.42 mg/dL [95% CI, -0.66 to -0.19]) had lower fasting glucose than consistently inactive patients. Consistently active and irregularly active men and women also had favorable random glucose and HbA1c compared with consistently inactive patients. CONCLUSION: Routine clinical physical activity assessment may give health care providers additional information about their patients' cardiometabolic risk factors.

Surveillance colonoscopy in elderly patients: a retrospective cohort study.

IMPORTANCE: The risks and benefits of surveillance colonoscopy in elderly patients have not been well characterized. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relative impact of surveillance colonoscopy in elderly patients compared with a reference cohort. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Retrospective cohort study from 2001 through 2010 of patients 50 years and older undergoing surveillance colonoscopy for a history of colorectal cancer (CRC) or adenomatous polyps at an integrated health care system in southern California. Patients were followed up from the surveillance examination until CRC diagnosis, death, disenrollment, IBD diagnosis, or study end date (December 31, 2010). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary outcome measure was incidence of CRC detected following surveillance colonoscopy. The secondary outcome was risk of procedure defined as postprocedure hospitalization within 30 days. Cox regression and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to determine the impact of age on CRC incidence on surveillance examination as well as postprocedure hospitalization, respectively. RESULTS: The study cohort included 4834 elderly patients (age ≥75 years; 55.8% male) (median surveillance age, 79 years) and 22 929 individuals in the reference group (age 50-74 years; 57.7% male) (median surveillance age, 63 years). A total of 373 cancers were detected following surveillance colonoscopy (368 in the reference group and 5 among the elderly patients). There were a total of 711 postprocedure hospitalizations (184 in the reference group and 527 among the elderly patients). The CRC incidence among elderly patients undergoing surveillance was 0.24 per 1000 person-years vs 3.61 per 1000 person-years in the reference population (P < .001). In Cox regression analysis, the hazard ratio for CRC in the elderly patients compared with the reference group was 0.06 (95% CI, 0.02-0.13) (P < .001) after adjusting for comorbid illness, sex, and race/ethnicity. In logistic regression analysis, age 75 years and older was independently associated with increased risk of postprocedure hospitalization (adjusted odds ratio, 1.28 [95% CI, 1.07-1.53]; P = .006). Charlson score of 2 was also independently associated with increased risk of postprocedure hospitalization (adjusted odds ratio, 2.54 [95% CI, 2.06-3.14]; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: A low incidence of CRC and relatively high rate of postprocedure hospitalization were found among elderly patients undergoing surveillance colonoscopy. Recommendations for ongoing surveillance in the elderly population should take into consideration the impact of comorbid illness and increasing age on the anticipated risks and benefits of colonoscopy.

Screening colonoscopy versus sigmoidoscopy: implications of a negative examination for cancer prevention and racial disparities in average-risk patients.

BACKGROUND: Both colonoscopy and flexible sigmoidoscopy are accepted procedures for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in the United States. OBJECTIVE: To compare risk of CRC after negative findings on screening colonoscopy versus sigmoidoscopy and to evaluate racial/ethnic disparities in postscreening CRC. DESIGN: Retrospective, comparative cohort study. SETTING: Integrated community-based health-care system. PATIENTS: Average-risk patients 50 to 75 years of age with negative findings on an initial endoscopic screening examination from January 2000 to December 2010. INTERVENTIONS: Colonoscopy versus sigmoidoscopy as the initial screening procedure. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Incident cases of CRC identified via a prospective internal cancer registry, risk of CRC determined by Cox regression adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, and comorbidity. RESULTS: The study cohort included 138,297 patients (42,938 patients with negative findings on colonoscopy and 95,359 with negative findings on sigmoidoscopy). The median age was 57.9 years (interquartile range 53.0-64.1 years). Women comprised 51.8% of the cohort with 42.2% non-Hispanic white patients, 24.1% Hispanic patients, 10.7% non-Hispanic black patients, 9.7% Asian patients, and 13.3% other/unknown. A total of 241 cases of CRC was detected during 553,543 person-years of follow-up. The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of postscreening CRC was 0.42 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.28-0.64; P < .0001) for colonoscopy versus sigmoidoscopy. Risk reduction was primarily among proximal tumors (adjusted HR 0.30; 95% CI, 0.16-0.57). Non-Hispanic black patients were at higher risk of postscreening CRC compared with non-Hispanic white patients (adjusted HR 1.71; 95% CI, 1.20-2.42); however, this disparity was noted only in the sigmoidoscopy cohort. LIMITATIONS: Retrospective study with potential selection bias and residual confounding. CONCLUSIONS: Negative screening colonoscopy was associated with decreased incidence of subsequent CRC and a decrease in disparities compared with negative sigmoidoscopy findings in this large, community-based setting.

Recommendations for the management of beta-lactam intolerance.

Beta-lactam intolerance, most of which is not IgE or even immunologically mediated even though it is commonly called an "allergy," can be safely managed using the following seven steps: 1. Avoid testing, re-challenging, or desensitizing individuals with histories of beta-lactam associated toxic epidermal necrolysis, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms syndrome, severe hepatitis, interstitial nephritis, or hemolytic anemia. 2. Avoid unnecessary antibiotic use, especially in the setting of viral infections. 3. Expect new intolerances to be reported after 0.5 to 4% of all antibiotic utilizations, dependent on gender and the specific antibiotic used. 4. Expect a higher incidence of new intolerances in individuals with three or more medication intolerances already noted in their medical records. 5. For individuals with an appropriate penicillin class antibiotic intolerance based on a history of anaphylaxis, urticaria, macular papular rashes, unknown symptoms, or symptoms not excluded in step one, proceed with penicillin skin testing. Skin test with penicilloyl-poly-lysine and native penicillin. If skin test is negative, proceed with an oral amoxicillin challenge. If skin test and oral challenge are negative, penicillin class antibiotics may be used. If skin test or oral challenge is positive, avoid penicillin class antibiotics. If skin test or oral challenge is positive, non-penicillin-beta-lactams may be used, unless there is a history of intolerance to a specific non-penicillin-beta-lactam, then avoid that specific non-penicillin-beta-lactam. If there is life-threatening infection that can only be treated with a penicillin class antibiotic, proceed with oral penicillin desensitization prior to any oral or parenteral penicillin use. 6. For individuals with an appropriate non-penicillin-beta-lactam intolerance, avoid re-exposure to the beta-lactam implicated. An alternative beta-lactam may be used, ideally with different side chains. Penicillin allergy testing is not useful in the management of non-penicillin-beta-lactam intolerance. Non-penicillin-beta-lactam skin testing is not clinically useful and should not be done outside of a research setting. If the non-penicillin-beta-lactam implicated is needed to treat a life-threatening infection, proceed with desensitization. 7. Be ready to treat anaphylaxis with all parenteral beta-lactam use.

Prediction of malignancy in cystic neoplasms of the pancreas: a population-based cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: Pancreatic cystic neoplasms (PCNs) are being detected with increased frequency. The aims of this study were to determine the incidence of malignancy and develop an imaging-based system for prediction of malignancy in PCN. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients ≥18 years of age with confirmed PCN from January 2005 to December 2010 in a community-based integrated care setting in Southern California. Patients with history of acute or chronic pancreatitis were excluded. Malignancy diagnosed within 3 months of cyst diagnosis was considered as pre-existing. Subsequent incidence of malignancy during surveillance was calculated based on person-time at risk. Age- and gender-adjusted standardized incidence ratio (SIR) was calculated with the non-cyst reference population. Recursive partitioning was used to develop a risk prediction model based on cyst imaging features. RESULTS: We identified 1,815 patients with confirmed PCN. A total of 53 (2.9%) of patients were diagnosed with cyst-related malignancy during the study period. The surveillance cohort consisted of 1,735 patients with median follow-up of 23.4 months. Incidence of malignancy was 0.4% per year during surveillance. The overall age- and gender-adjusted SIR for pancreatic malignancy was 35.0 (95% confidence level 26.6, 46.0). Using recursive partitioning, we stratified patients into low (<1%), intermediate (1-5%), and high (9-14%) risk of harboring malignant PCN based on four cross-sectional imaging features: size, pancreatic duct dilatation, septations with calcification as well as growth. Area under the receiver operator characteristic curve for the prediction model was 0.822 (training) and 0.808 (testing). CONCLUSIONS: Risk of pancreatic malignancy was lower than previous reports from surgical series but was still significantly higher than the reference population. A risk stratification system based on established imaging criteria may help guide future management decisions for patients with PCN.

Development and validation of the Individual Burden of Illness Index for Major Depressive Disorder (IBI-D).

This study aims at developing a single numerical measure that represents a depressed patient's individual burden of illness. An exploratory study examined depressed outpatients (n = 317) followed by a hypothesis confirmatory study using the NIMH STAR*D trial (n = 2,967). Eigenvalues/eigenvectors were obtained from the Principal Component Analyses of patient-reported measures of symptom severity, functioning, and quality of life. The study shows that a single principal component labeled as the Individual Burden of Illness Index for Depression (IBI-D) accounts for the vast majority of the variance contained in these three measures providing a numerical z score for clinicians and investigators to determine an individual's burden of illness, relative to other depressed patients.

Safely diagnosing clinically significant penicillin allergy using only penicilloyl-poly-lysine, penicillin, and oral amoxicillin.

BACKGROUND: Penicillin skin testing is rarely used to undiagnose penicillin "allergy" in the United States, partially because of concern that commercially available materials are inadequate. OBJECTIVE: We determined whether skin testing with only commercially available penicilloyl-poly-lysine and penicillin followed by an oral amoxicillin challenge, if skin test-negative, can safely identify clinically significant penicillin allergy. METHODS: Five hundred sequential persons with positive history of penicillin "allergy" were evaluated by skin testing with penicilloyl-poly-lysine and penicillin between June 8, 2010, and March 29, 2012. All persons with negative skin tests were given an oral amoxicillin challenge and observed for 1 hour. RESULTS: Persons undergoing penicillin allergy testing were representative of all health plan members with penicillin allergy. Only 4 persons (0.8%; 95% CI, 0.32%-2.03%) had a positive skin test result. Only 4 persons (0.8%; 95% CI, 0.32%-2.03%) had an acute objective oral amoxicillin challenge reaction. Fifteen persons (3.0%; 95% CI, 1.83%-4.98%) had subjective oral challenge reactions, either acute transient itching or dizziness. All were women and 11 (73.3%) had multiple drug intolerance syndrome. None had severe reactions or objective signs. These were not considered to be positive challenge reactions. Sixty-eight subjects (13.6%) who were negative on testing were exposed to 88 courses of penicillins during 90 days of follow-up. New reactions were reported after 4 courses (4.5%), 3 (75%) occurring in subjects with multiple drug intolerance syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: Penicillin skin testing, using only penicilloyl-poly-lysine and penicillin, followed by oral amoxicillin challenge, if negative, can safely identify clinically significant IgE-mediated penicillin allergy in patients who use health care in the United States at this time.

Initial validation of an exercise "vital sign" in electronic medical records.

PURPOSE: The objective of this study is to describe the face and discriminant validity of an exercise vital sign (EVS) for use in an outpatient electronic medical record. METHODS: Eligible patients were 1,793,385 adults 18 yr and older who were members of a large health care system in Southern California. To determine face validity, median total self-reported minutes per week of exercise as measured by the EVS were compared with findings from national population-based surveys. To determine discriminant validity, multivariate Poisson regression models with robust variance estimation were used to examine the ability of the EVS to discriminate between groups of patients with differing physical activity (PA) levels on the basis of demographics and health status. RESULTS: After 1.5 yr of implementation, 86% (1,537,798) of all eligible patients had an EVS in their electronic medical record. Overall, 36.3% of patients were completely inactive (0 min of exercise per week), 33.3% were insufficiently active (more than 0 but less than 150 min·wk), and 30.4% were sufficiently active (150 min or more per week). As compared with national population-based surveys, patient reports of PA were lower but followed similar patterns. As hypothesized, patients who were older, obese, of a racial/ethnic minority, and had higher disease burdens were more likely to be inactive, suggesting that the EVS has discriminant validity. CONCLUSIONS: We found that the EVS has good face and discriminant validity and may provide more conservative estimates of PA behavior when compared with national surveys. The EVS has the potential to provide information about the relationship between exercise and health care use, cost, and chronic disease that has not been previously available at the population level.

Impact of median lobe anatomy: does its presence affect surgical margin rates during robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy?

PURPOSE: To measure and describe the impact of median lobe anatomy on surgical margin status after robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We prospectively collected median lobe status, surgical margin status, and other perioperative data on 791 patients who underwent RALP at our institution by 12 surgeons between August 2008 and December 2010. We performed univariable and multivariable analysis to measure the association between median lobe status and positive surgical margin rates, including site. RESULTS: Compared with patients without a median lobe (n=672), patients with a median lobe (n=119) were less likely to have a positive surgical margin (16% vs 24.4%). They had a higher prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level (6.1 ng/dL vs 5.4 ng/dL), lower Gleason scores (<7, 58.1% vs 42.1%), lower pathologic stages (T(2), 87.4% vs 75.4%), and larger prostates (64 g vs 48 g) (all P<0.05). In our multivariable model, the effect of median lobe anatomy on surgical margin status, after adjusting for these factors, was not statistically significant (relative risk 0.97, 95% confidence interval, 0.64-1.47, P=0.88). Lower PSA level, Gleason score, and pathologic stage and larger prostates, however, predicted decreased positive surgical margin rates (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Although presence of median lobe anatomy is not an independent predictor of positive surgical margins in RALP, it is associated with favorable pathologic characteristics that are known to predict decreased positive surgical margins.